A possible case of coronavirus has been confirmed in Calif. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported the individual is a resident of Solano County and is being treated in Sacramento County. They say they don’t know how this person was exposed. There is still a low risk for the general public, and residents should follow the rules they would when it’s flu season, wash hands often, stay home if you feel sick, away from the general public and seek medical care if symptoms persist. State health officials say they’re assessing the case and that keeping Californians safe and healthy is their number one priority. There’s been two other cases of person to person transmission in the general public, that was in Chicago, and another in San Benito County, California.
Another fishing tournament is coming to Clear Lake. The Clear Lake Crappie Association is sponsoring the tournament for two man teams. Signups for the March 28th event are already taking place at Lakeport Bait & Tackle in Lakeport and Limit Out Bait & Tackle in Clearlake Oaks. The first tournament was last Saturday. There were 33 teams. The teams can get a maximum of 10 fish which have to be at least 12 inches long. It’s $60 to enter and there’s a $5 insurance and tournament permit fee and a $10 big-fish option.
A new program to help small cannabis growers in Mendocino County has been approved by the Board of Supervisors. The Mendocino County Equity Program will include county programs and services for neighborhoods and small growers in the County affected by past government cannabis policies. The new policy comes after a deep dive shows the criminalization of cannabis and the past war on drugs hurt residents in Mendocino County and put up obstacles for them to get involved in the industry or recover from cannabis laws that worked against them.
Budget fixes approved by the Lake County Board of Supervisors includes some major cost cutting. The Record Bee reports the board approved more than $7.5 million in revenues above what was budgeted at the beginning of this fiscal year. That includes around $200,000 for the county’s general fund, $4 million in allocations, including almost $700,000 from the general fund. The newspaper also reports another $4 million for “wildfire relief” divided in half, $2 million to general reserves and $2 million set aside in case of a possible financial audit. The County Administrative Officer says they’re not anticipating an audit, but they’re recommending the money be set aside for a couple years.
A man from Clearlake has a warrant out for his arrest for not appearing in court. The Record Bee reports Gabriel Cardenas Diaz is wanted for assault to produce great bodily injury, corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant and intimidating a witness. It comes after cops went to a report of a man shooting a gun last month, finding Diaz went to confront his girlfriend and that’s when he reportedly fired a gun several times while several people were there, including some kids. Three women were reportedly hit by bullets, one of them, pregnant. Diaz took off. Two victims reported in critical condition, including the pregnant woman. The third victim treated and released. Clearlake police consider him armed and dangerous and are asking for the public’s help finding him.
Congressman John Garamendi has signed on to support preventing state and the federal government from getting money from the victim’s settlement agreement with PG&E. Earlier this week we reported Congressmembers Jared Huffman and Mike Thompson also support the “Preventing Disaster Revictimization Act”. Garamendi’s office reports he’s signed onto a group who sent a letter to the U.S. Attorney General Barr and California Attorney General Becerra so they’d drop claims to the Pacific Gas & Electric (PG& E) settlement fund for California wildfire victims.
Several law enforcement agencies working to take violent offenders off the street arrest seven people in Lake County. Clearlake Police, the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation Parole and Lake County Probation had a special enforcement operation across Clearlake. They hit up two dozen locations confirming those on probation were complying with the law. Of the seven arrested, three were busted for felonies and four for misdemeanor offenses. Three homes were also found to have several code enforcement violations, making them unsafe to live in. Those were turned over to Clearlake Code Enforcement.
Willits police will be getting incentive benefits for dedicating themselves to the city. At a City Council meeting two weeks ago, members voted unanimously to go after a grant to pay cops incentive benefits $2,000 in February and $1,500 in August. Nine members of the force are eligible for the February payment, and probably the same for the second one in August. Also at the council meeting, a budget revision was made to cut one police officer position and a Police Corporal classification. Now the Police Department can revise their budget to have a Police Sergeant with an Advanced Post Certificate Title.
February is breaking records for being one of the driest in history. In the Bay Area, the driest February in 156 years. The Press Democrat reporting on the US Drought Monitor’s weekly report by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration showing almost a quarter of the state is in a moderate drought, up about 20% over the last week. And the most in 13 months. 69% of the state is also classified as “abnormally dry.” There’s also no rain in the foreseeable future, sunny weather with high’s in the 60s and 70s over the next week in Northern California. There’s a small chance of drizzles this Sunday and maybe, looking further out, showers the second week of March.
Local health officials continue monitoring the coronavirus in Mendocino and Lake Counties. The Lake County Office of Education says they too are monitoring conditions but the threat of a local outbreak is low. The Lake County Public Health Officer Dr. Gary Pace sent a letter out to school administrators a couple of weeks ago recommending certain preventative measures to reduce the spread of the virus and the flu. Some of the recommendations include, encourage staffers and students to stay home if they have a fever, separate sick students and staff from others until they can go home, remind to wash hands and promote other ways to prevent germ spreading, like avoid touching your face, use proper cough etiquette, into a tissue or sleeve or arm, not hands. Schools in Lake County also say their custodial and other staff are working hard to keep surfaces disinfected and clean.
